Kyoto Colors - Gardens & Temples

Shinsen-en Garden

Sitting quietly on the southern edge of Nijo Castle is the Shingon Buddhist temple, Shinsen-en. The temple was originally constructed around 800 A.D. as a garden for the imperial family. The original garden, which was situated next to the imperial palace, was as large as 20 acres, but in later years it was forced to give away most of its land for the construction of Nijo Castle by Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Because there are no tall buildings around the present location, one can still imagine how grand the ancient garden must have once been during the courtly Heian era (794-1192).